Everything We Need We Already Have

The way this day started just could not have been any more perfect. You know when you are sleeping or you are just simply out of your consciousness and then you come to realize where you are, who you are with, what you have, or all three, and when you realize that this is your reality you feel like you could just jump out of your own skin because you are so happy? That is how my day began.

Words can’t describe this, but you know the feeling. Maybe you feel it everyday, and if you do you are one of the lucky ones. Maybe you have felt it before in your life and you can recall it or maybe you just want to feel it more than anything in the world.  Either way you know this is something you can’t describe, you just feel and it’s incredible.  Well, that feeling is how I began my day.

Then I did the usual.. get up, get ready, take Stringer for a walk in the beautiful October Florida weather.. What a PERFECT day. I’ve made it a habit for the last year to spend my morning dog walks meditating. I’m gonna be real.. My ADD is too wild to sit with peace and quiet and just not think. Most people I know are the same way, but if I can move while I meditate, count me in!

Which leads me to this thought… so many people think the physical practice, of asanas, or the poses, is what yoga is. Yoga is truly just linking breath and movement and taking the time to just let go and let your mind relax. For my granddaddy his yoga was mowing the lawn. It was his favorite. For some people going for a run is their yoga.

For me, it’s the morning dog walks because I can just zone out and think about how grateful I am for being here in Florida. It’s my time when I manifest the things that I want as well.  As a matter of fact, on many of these walks I give myself a general theme that I am going to intention this walk to. Maybe I need to create a certain feeling of relaxation, I want to manifest something or perhaps I just leave the space open for mental creativity.  But today’s walk was simply gratitude and happiness for the fact that I live here, in my paradise, something I have wanted for so long. And for the gorgeous weather that allows me to take my dog for hour long walks, and for the job I have that allows for time freedom.  And for what made me wake up with that feeling of all encompassing happiness.

Fast forward a couple hours later, through some work, coffee, breakfast and onto my yoga mat. I almost didn’t go. I so easily get wrapped up in work but I promised myself I would go and knew if I went I would be happy I did, and boyyyyy was that true.

From the moment I stepped on my mat I was in my own world. Partially still living in that world of happiness from the morning, partially still in the world of gratitude from my walk and partially in the mode of feeling my body out inch by inch and deeming how I needed to move it to feel my best. It’s no secret that to me, what a yoga teacher offers up as a pose is simply a suggestion and I am often doing my own thing. (Try this sometime.. it’s amazing the feedback your body will give you if you listen.)

The hour flew by and before I knew it I landed myself in pigeon.. such a juicy hip stretch where you can just relax into it, but also a lot of emotions tend to get stirred up. What came to mind for me was something my old yoga teacher used to say to us that I can’t ever forget… “everything you need is what you already have.”

She used to say this in class a lot and I always “got” it. In my head I would always think, “you are right Lorraine, I have a place to sleep, I have clothing, I have food, I have a car, I have a job, I have my health, I look great…” and run down this list of all the things I had.  Back then I was mostly happy with my day to day life. I’ve always had a pretty positive outlook or at least decent coping mechanisms.  And back then that is what it meant to me when I would hear her say that.

But today was different. Today I was so completely overwhelmed by how fulfilled I am to the point my heart overflowed and I cried.

So many things have changed in my life over the last six months. So many things have happened that have taught me some pretty incredible lessons.

For one.. everything happens for a reason. Sure, it can be really frustrating or difficult to go through, but you WILL come out on the other side at some point, and you will have most likely learned something from it. And if nothing else, it’s to make you grateful. When I was trying to get a muscle up I worked to the point I bled and I cried often over this, and now that I have it, every. single. time. I do one it’s like the very first time because I am so grateful that I can do this. I would have never felt that way if I had not gone through that struggle.

And for another, I realize what’s truly important and that is simply happiness. All these other made up things we think we need or rules we need to follow are just that – they are made up by our own brain. This idea that we MUST workout five days a week for one hour at a time to get the body we want.. made up. This concept that to be happy we have to have a certain kind of car, a guy that looks a certain way or we need to make a certain amount of money.. all made up.  Those things are not what’s going to make us happy, but if we can let go of those things we might actually find it.

And that lesson brings me back to my thought in class that everything I need is what I already have.

There may be moments where I get caught up with wanting to go to this place, or wanting to try that or wanting to buy some item but in reality those things aren’t what fulfills me.

I have the most incredible life. I’ve got some really amazing people surrounding me. This incredible dog that brings me so much joy and light. I live exactly where I want to be, my paradise and I have this job running a business that I feel so incredibly passionate about. I don’t feel like I have anything to prove to anyone or myself.  I feel like I just understand things so well now.  And I have this feeling of fulfillment.. you can’t ask for much more than that.

Everything I need is what I already have, and I have gratitude for that.

Your Coach,

Kyra

P.S. Have you ever experienced anything like this?

Let me know.. I’d love to read your story!